'This Week' Transcript: Disaster in the Pacific

Yes, very nervous, she told us, not sure quite what to do. And when I
asked what she is doing, she said she's following the instructions given
to her on the television not to leave the home, to seal the windows.
She said she's got them shut tight. But the reason she left her home
this time was simply because she was running out of food, running out of
drinks.

But I've got to tell you, there was at least one other parent who said,
"I'm not worried about the nuclear reactors. I don't even have
television or electricity right now. I'm more worried about being at
home in the dark with my children at night."

Christiane, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: David Muir, up as far as he could get towards the nuclear
power plant. And when we come back, we are going to have a report about
the nuclear industry. We're going to have a report about the dangers
there. We're going to have an interesting panel to talk about what
might be next. And later, Jake Tapper will take us to Washington with
all the news there, including President Obama's budget battle on Capitol
Hill, after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: So, first, an earthquake, then a tsunami, and then a nuclear
disaster. This country is in a race to really save those reactors from
any further damage than has already been created.

ABC's Bob Woodruff takes a look inside what the government is trying to
do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF (voice-over): Friday's devastating earthquake, one of the
most powerful ever recorded, was centered off the coast of Japan, just
about 80 miles from two nuclear power plants. The horrific tsunami that
soon followed slammed into both facilities. Even as the nation
struggled to comprehend the vast tragedy around them, another nightmare
had already begun.

KAKU: First of all, the backup systems failed. The pumps, the
electricity all gone because of the earthquake and the tsunami. This
was not supposed to happen.

WOODRUFF: Here's why that mattered. At the core of a nuclear power
plant are uranium rods that become super hot. And that heat drives
turbines to create electricity. But the uranium core must be kept
underwater at all times to keep it from getting too hot. That's exactly
what was beginning to happen here. And plant workers tried everything
they could, the experts were getting nervous.

KAKU: They are trying to end this crisis. It's a question of
capability. Can they?

WOODRUFF: As temperature and pressure rose in the Fukushima Daiichi
reactor, officials struggled in a fight against time to get the pumps
fully working. Finally, on Saturday, an explosion ripped away the
building housing the reactor.

KAKU: One by one, every single layer of safety is failing right before
their eyes. And so as a last-ditch measure, they're reaching for the
ultimate solution, and that is inject seawater right into the reactor
core, anything to stabilize the core to prevent it from going up.

WOODRUFF: As tensions continued to rise, an evacuation plan was
quickly widened to include 200,000 people around the Daiichi plant and
the nearby Fukushima Daini plant, which is deteriorating, as well.

KAKU: On Friday, Japan had never declared a nuclear emergency. By
Friday afternoon, they had declared five. They had five reactors where
they had lost control of the cooling systems. All five were potential
meltdowns.